AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bart locked up theapartment and followed Hannah down the stairs. She started for her rental car, but he pointed toward the shop building where he kept two work bays and tools for basic mechanical repairs. Inside, he pulled the tarp off of a 1969 Camaro SS with more primer than paint. It was ugly, but it had a strong enough engine to get them wherever she wanted to go. Even if whoever had bugged his house had thought to bug this car, the loud engine and heavy vibrations would interfere with the signal and make it impossible to hear anything.
“This is new,” she said when he opened the passenger door for her. “Well, new to you, obviously.”
“It’s Kyle’s summer project.” He closed her door and walked around to the driver’s side before he started babbling about his plans for rebuilding the muscle car with his son.
“Does he know yet?” she asked when he slid into the driver’s seat.
“Yeah. It’s a birthday bonus. I picked it up at an auction last month.” The plan was to teach Kyle a few things about enginesand body work while he invested sweat equity into his first car. His dad had done the same for him when he was about Kyle’s age. He still thought fondly of that car. It had been a two-year long labor of love and he’d been careful with it when he’d started driving. He hoped the same would hold true for Kyle.
“He’ll love this,” she said. “You two will have it in chick-magnet shape in no time.”
Her utter confidence eased his lingering doubts.
He started the car and revved the engine. When they pulled onto the road he rolled down the window and suggested she do the same. “Even at this hour it will get hot in here fast without air conditioning. So where is it you really want to go?”
“I was hoping to get a look at your cook’s house. Maybe something there will give us a better idea of how deeply he was into the cartel.”
“Tim was innocent.” He turned toward the interstate.
“I believe you, but they targeted him for a reason.”
Bart figured it had a lot more to do with the notebook in his pocket. The notebook they’d implied was waiting in his apartment, free to the first person bold enough to break in. Again. “I can’t believe they got into my place.”
“It doesn’t make much sense, unless someone is setting you up for something.”
“Yeah.” It should have been a comfort to be on the same page with her. He admired her on a professional level. “Unless.” His gut told him this would get a lot uglier before it got better.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“Sure.” He pushed the car a bit over the posted speed limit. “We have one stop before we head out to Tim’s place.”
“For the case?”
“In a manner of speaking.” He didn’t want to tell her he’d called ahead to a jewelry store in Miler. She would only argueabout it, but he intended to do his part to support the story she’d created.
He might not know how to be a real husband in the long term, but he could damn sure be a good fake husband in the short term.
“You’re quiet.”
“I’m thinking.”
“About sex?”
“About Suter and Kellerman. Wait. What did you say?”
She was laughing and the happy, normal sound broke the tension gripping his shoulders. “Men don’t—” She sputtered between giggles. “—don’t think.” She gulped air. “About anything else.”
“That’s a rude stereotype.”
“For a reason.”
Maybe. “What is wrong with you?” Her outburst was completely out of character.
“I don’t know.” She swiped her eyes. “I really don’t know. Sorry.”
“For the record I wasnotthinking about sex.”Until now. Had she planned that? He shot her a look.
Worse, now he was thinking about sex withher. Or maybe that was better. That night had been amazing. Whether the catalyst had been the alcohol, the anonymity of Vegas, or the need to take a gamble on the potential of friends with benefits, he didn’t regret the experience.
